


Eagle of Freedom

by Luthienberen



Series: 100fandoms Dreamwidth Challenge [4]
Category: To Be or Not To Be (1942 film)
Genre: Gen, Occupied Poland, Polish Book Seller, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 12:57:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18052916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luthienberen/pseuds/Luthienberen
Summary: The Lady had delivered her message and departed with grace. Now the book seller considered the treachery the message revealed and how the Polish Resistance could prevent this traitor from betraying the Polish Resistance to the Gestapo.





	Eagle of Freedom

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [100fandoms](https://100fandoms.dreamwidth.org/) Prompt 065 War.
> 
> I have deliberately used “---” to replace the names of individuals and locations in the thoughts of the gentleman in my story. This is to fit the atmosphere of secrecy and anxiety of the times he lived in.
> 
> For further information on the background to my story, please see the long note at the end.

A traitor!

Traitors were unfortunately not a new concept or even shocking – in fact it was depressingly all too common. Yet a part of him still quailed in despair that _Professor Alexander Siletsky_ was the subject of such an accusation.

To discover such an eminent man whose radio broadcasts rallied the hearts of Poles was a treacherous worm was sickening and deeply distressing, for it called into question all their checks. Professor Siletsky had successfully navigated their interrogations by the Head of the Resistance and certain other members who were skilled at unearthing liars. The result of these interviews had been joined with sympathetic reports from those who had known him before the war, leading to a favourable outcome.

Clutching the tiny photo in his hand, book still open on the stand, he stood tucked away behind the flimsy curtain that divided the public area of his bookshop and this small private alcove, trembling in horror and growing anger.

He could comprehend being too frightened to fight in the resistance, or being too ill or weak to do so. Yet, for an intelligent man like the Professor to throw aside all his fealty to Poland, to cast his lot with the evil that the Nazis ushered before them and cloaked them like devils, was repulsive and smashed sympathy into nothingness.

Their intelligentsia were being hunted, tortured and devoured by the Germans so every single one that survived was paramount to organising the resistance, in succouring their fellow Poles and striving towards freedom either here in Poland or positioned from a place of safety in what remained of the free world.

The bell tinkled and he reached up to pull the light switch. With great care he slipped the photo into his shoe and entered the shop to deal with another pair of German soldiers – Wehrmacht thankfully and not the Gestapo or SS.

Donning the mask of civility and utter innocence, he dealt with their purchases – a book of Polish fairy tales most surprisingly and Macbeth. Once they had departed he shut up the shop at the usual hour, for even though the situation was dire, if he closed any sooner someone might take note.

Someone who was a spy, or traitor, or just careless in their chatter and overheard by the wrong person. A single shred of suspicion could stop him from reaching the resistance, so normality was as precious as amber and to be courted.

Only then did he quickly have a slice of bread and ham to at least stave off starvation and strong coffee.

He considered his options as he hastily consumed his meagre supper, though it was more than many had, and wondered at the lady who had delivered the note.

She looked familiar…as if he had seen her frequently but not in actuality spoken to the lady. His coffee cup froze mid-air.

The actress! M---

_No!_

He would not utter her name even in his own head. Better for the lady to fade to insubstantial mist in his memory. This act---, _lady_ , was not a resistance member he was fairly certain so she had borne the message for another.

Courage indeed.

That the message was truth and not fabrication he believed fully. The style of the message and the signature fit all parameters and indicated it was their contacts in --- and not deception.

If the Nazis had cracked their code or suspected so much, they would not bother with such duplicity. To accuse Professor Siletsky would more likely inspire distrust due to his prominence, instead of trust. They would use another figure to insinuate that he or she was a traitor, and who would not trigger the church bells of warning in the minds of the paranoid and wary resistance.

Further, they would not send a lady who was prominent herself, but someone ordinary or even better – a person known to the shop seller and more likely to inspire trust in the message than an unknown who he refused to name in his own thoughts.

No, the original bearer of the note had managed to beseech this lady to act on their behalf. The note promised further contact, but the mere fact the lady had come instead suggested that the original bearer had been waylaid somehow and still might be unable to come.

Draining the last drop of coffee he cleared his cutlery and donned a heavy fur coat, gloves and boots against the snow and cold. A Polish winter was not to be trifled with. Switching the last light off and preparing to open the door, he paused and whispered a prayer of supplication and intercession.

_“Oh Mary, Queen of Poland, Mother of God, please watch over me and guide me as a mother would her child to their destination.”_

Thus, with great caution he went to the Leader of the Resistance. Through the shadows, past patrolling soldiers and guards at checks he slunk and slid and snaked his way until at last, chilled to the bone despite his garments and exhausted, he arrived at his destination.

Signal given he was permitted entrance by the alarmed man who surveyed him with trepidation shinning in hard eyes from a handsome if graven face. A glass of vodka was put to his lips and he drank, coughing and spluttering until he could finally speak.

The photo was passed over and examined and his conclusions concurred with by this sensible solider of war, who had been a medical doctor before the war and still practised – a natural front for his other operations.

They could not be certain that the true bearer of the note would be able to make contact, or if the resistance instead could transmit a message to their contacts in --- for clarity. Whatever danger the Professor symbolised it most likely was the names of prominent resistance members or locations of hide-outs which could spell the same thing.

A verdict was therefore reached.

Professor Alexander Siletsky was to be eliminated.

____

 

Yet, even as the resistance galvanised their forces, turning their attentions to the Professor, news reached them of Professor Alexander Siletsky’s death.

The reaction of the Gestapo to the Professor’s death was confirmation that the message had been truthful.

Stunned, the Polish resistance waited and watched, realising swiftly – unlike the Germans – that it was the troupe of actors and actresses from the --- Theatre who were responsible. Among them was a man who the book seller and the Resistance Leader suspected of being the original bearer of the note.

Purposefully they did not enquire any further into his identity, fearing any interference would reach the ears of the Gestapo or SS. Instead they observed the troupe, wondering if they would need to render any aid to assist a desperate escape.

The night the resistance performed an act of sabotage the troupe, (and as it turned out the stranger was a pilot), fled Warsaw and escaped to ---.

Proud of their fellow Poles, the resistance knew they had had a stay of execution. Grateful towards those responsible for removing the wolf in sheep’s clothing from their nest, the resistance returned to the business of fighting and surviving this war.

One day Poland would be free.

**Author's Note:**

> One of my favourite films _To Be or Not to Be [1942]_ is set at the cusp of World War 2 in Poland, just before the Nazis invade. It centres on a theatre group who are staging a play mocking Hitler. One member of the audience is an ardent admirer of the wife (Maria Tura) of the two leads. The admirer is a Polish pilot (Lt. Stanislav Sobinski) who is invited backstage by the actress Maria Tura. 
> 
> Long story short, the Nazis invade and Maria Tura wishes a tearful farewell to Sobinski who when Poland falls after three fierce weeks of fighting escapes to Britain to continue fighting in one of the Polish Air Squadrons. 
> 
> At one point, a Professor Alexander Siletsky who transmits radio broadcasts to help maintain the spirits of the Poles lets slip to a group of Polish pilots that he is going to Poland and naturally the young pilots ask him to pass on messages, as does Sobinski for Maria…yet the Professor doesn’t know the name of one of the most famous actresses in Poland, which is impossible for a supposed native of Warsaw.
> 
> Suspicious Sobinski reports this to the British Officers in charge who are horrified and realise that with those names the Professor could destroy the Polish Resistance, as many of those names are resistance family members. So Sobinski is flown to Poland to contact the resistance and end the Professor’s life.
> 
> Once in Warsaw he is heavily pursued and finds sanctuary with Maria Tura who delivers the small photo with typed message to a Resistance member. 
> 
> My fic picks up after she leaves…
> 
> For more information on the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Be_or_Not_to_Be_(1942_film)


End file.
